a surprise turnaround

after bitching and moaning on this blog about all of my fantasy misfortunes, i have somehow managed to make the playoffs in 3 out of my 4 football leagues. the particularly surprising turnaround was in the league with some friends where i was in 11th place out of 12 teams going into this week's games. well everybody who i needed to lose lost and i managed to nab that 6th place spot. in fact, i had been reviewing the rules and the ongoing games from sunday and realized yesterday that i had a real shot at getting in. thus i went ahead and initiated a conversation with laura in an attempt to get her hopes up....only to crush her!!!

me: hey laura...looks like you're playoff-bound!
laura: nah, i don't think so...team banana hammock is gonna win his game and he will take the last playoff spot
me: nope, he's done for the week...he's already lost...you're basically a shoo-in for the playoffs...you're gonna beat chris (in my head i pretty much knew chris' qb drew brees was gonna blow up against atlanta)
laura: yeah! you're right! woo-hoo!
me: yup, enjoy the playoffs laura (smiling menacingly)

why do i do these things? i guess i am kind of a jerk...also, i feel like laura tends to take great pleasure when something unfortunate happens to me, or if she beats me at something. i have no specific examples of this, but it's a general vibe of our friendship i guess.


ring! ring! this just in, you're not going to the playoffs.


don't look sad, there's always next year...maybe your secret strategy will work then...


so of course chris ended up winning and i got the last playoff spot. i attempted to instant message her this morning to rub her face in my playoff afterbirth, but she did not respond...i don't think i will press my luck...also, i write this feeling safe in that i know laura is not one of the three people (myself included) that reads this blog. now i have to face off against her brother eskay who will undoubtedly smash my team like i smashed laura's playoff dreams.

in other news in that league...

phil posted a humorous discussion board comment on how his team got screwed by dan's haphazard setup of the league...and also noted that dan is conveniently on a road trip as all of this playoff drama unravels. basically, the league was set up with 2 divisions, which was a change from previous seasons, thus allowing the highest ranked team from each division to get a first round bye. phil's complaint is that while he has the same record as nam, and more total points scored, nam's team won the game they played each other, thus winning the division and gets that first round bye.

here's my take on that situation. i got into the playoffs!!! hahahahahahahah!!!! oh and well phil has a valid complaint in that this was clearly not the ideal way to set up the tie breakers...but these rules have been around since the season started. he had a chance to complain then. next year i am willing to serve as league commissioner as long as i have certain requirements met:

1. we do an auction draft
2. people at least consider an auction system for free agents (trust me, it won't be difficult...i would end up doing the work...also it adds some strategy and it is fair)
3. no divisions in the league
4. i get an automatic playoff spot
5. assisted tackles get counted
6. no more lame people that quit on their teams...i am perfectly fine with an 8 team league if that's all we can find
7. we never use flea flicker again...that shit sucks
8. championship is week 16 not 17

in fantasy basketball news...my team has turned it around...sort of. bosh is back! but now peja is hurt and i am going to be lacking in the 3's category. i kind of want to drop him at this point, but i know that's the type of move that i will quickly regret. my team won last week, catapulting me back up to the #2 position in the league. i dropped andray blatche for the second time this season. he and haywood are eating into each other's stats too much. although i like blatche much more, i decided to keep haywood over him since he is technically the starter. i might eventually drop him too though. i picked up kirk hinrich who is seriously slumping, but i can't believe someone dropped him...i am confident he will pick it up and start giving me 15, 7, and 5 with some 3's. so things are looking up for the west laurel cogs. i am losing this week so far, but it just started, and i only had 2 players play last night. also, arenas seems to be ahead of schedule in his recovery...i can't wait for him to get back.